World News - Judges express skepticism about abortion law infringing on speech

Missouri's chief justice said Wednesday that a recent abortion law did not appear to infringe on free-speech rights — dulling one of the main arguments of abortion providers seeking to overturn the law. At issue before the Supreme Court is a September 2005 law that lets parents or guardians sue anyone who intentionally helps their minor daughter get an abortion without parental consent or a court order. A Jackson County circuit judge last year expressed "substantial trepidation" while upholding the law and issued an injunction against enforcing it pending an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. The primary argument from Planned Parenthood affiliates and others challenging the law is that it would infringe on their free-speech rights to tell minors how they can abort their fetuses without parental consent in neighboring Illinois. But Chief Justice Michael Wolff quickly cast doubt on that claim Wednesday by citing the law, which states: ... http://www.usatoday.com

Turkey day came early for one New Jersey family when one of the wild birds crashed through a house window and made a big mess. The episode began around 3 p.m. Monday when Lisa Lane, her daughter, Lauren, and notably, their West Highland white terrier, Bubbles, pulled up to the house. About 20 wild turkeys were feasting on crab apples in their yard, not an unusual sight. When the birds saw Bubbles, they flew away in a hurry. One, though, did not have a smooth takeoff and crashed into a second-story window of the Lanes' home. "It was very exciting," Lisa Lane told the Asbury Park Press for Wednesday's newspapers. "What's so funny (is) it's around Thanksgiving, and I have this wild turkey in my house." ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2656274

A federal judge outlined how much classified evidence former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby must have access to in the CIA leak case Wednesday, leaving defense attorneys and prosecutors to debate how to black out or summarize it before trial in January. The fight over classified materials is a key issue leading up to the trial. Prosecutors say Libby is trying to get the case dismissed by demanding so much sensitive information that the government has no choice but to refuse. Libby is accused of lying to investigators about what he told reporters about CIA operative Valerie Plame. He wants to use some of the nation's most sensitive information the president's daily terrorism briefings to bolster his claim that he had important things on his mind and simply forgot details about the conversations. Nearly all of U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton's ruling was sealed Wednesday, so it's not clear what records he said must be made available. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2656275

President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have said they are to sign a deal on Russia's World Trade Organization (WTO) entry bid. The news came at the end of a meeting in Moscow between the two leaders. Mr Bush made a brief stopover in the Russian capital on the way to South East Asia, to attend an Asia-Pacific regional summit on Sunday. A Kremlin spokesman said the agreement on US support for Russia's membership would be signed within days. There were plenty of hugs and backslaps as Mr Putin and his wife met Mr Bush and the US First Lady, Laura, at one of Moscow's main airports. Both leaders clearly wanted to give the impression of good relations, despite the number of problems between their two countries increasing in recent years. Then they all disappeared into a VIP room for lunch and informal talks lasting about an hour-and-a-half. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6151912.stm

Charges were dismissed Wednesday against a Presbyterian minister accused of breaking church law by performing a marriage ceremony for two women after church officials determined the charges were filed too late. The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Pittsburgh Presbytery voted 8-0 to dismiss the charges against Janet Edwards because they were filed several days after a filing deadline. Edwards, a parish associate at the Community of Reconciliation Church in Pittsburgh, had been accused of violating the church's position on marriage by presiding at the June 2005 wedding. The constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reserves marriage for a man and a woman, although ministers may bless other types of "holy unions." "This dismissal constitutes neither a vindication of the accused nor any finding with respect to the subject," according to a statement from the commission read by Kears Pollock, the group's vice moderator. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2655319

A Democratic activist spotted on a highway overpass dressed as Osama bin Laden on Halloween faces additional charges for the stunt. Tom Connolly was charged Wednesday with terrorizing and reckless conduct, in addition to the original charge of criminal threatening, prosecutor Stephanie Anderson said in a statement. All three charges are misdemeanors. "Halloween or not, in this day and age you do not get to dress as an international terrorist and wave what appears to be an AK-47 at rush hour traffic," Anderson said. Connolly did not immediately return a call Wednesday. Police responded to calls from motorists on Interstate 295 about a man on an overpass wearing a white robe and carrying a fake assault rifle. The costume included plastic dynamite and grenades, in addition to the toy assault rifle. Before he was arrested, Connolly walked toward officers as plastic grenades tumbled onto the ground, an officer said. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2655312